Albert C. Nicholas, 81, of Saluda, N.C., died July 17 in Valor Hospice, at the Charles George VA Hospital in Asheville, N.C., following a long illness. The son of the late Anthony and Bertha (Florentine) Nicholas, he is survived by his loving wife of 32 years, Angela D. Nicholas of Saluda.

Surviving in addition to his wife, are two sons, Brian Coladonato of Brunswick, Ohio, and Michael Nicholas of Brecksville, Ohio; two stepsons, Ryan Griffin (Amber) and Nathan Griffin, all of Saluda; a granddaughter, Alyssa Nicholas of Twinsburg, Ohio; grandsons Landon Mitchell of Brecksville and Daniel Griffin of Saluda. Additionally, he was honored to be a bonus grandparent to Orien Walker of Fuquay-Verena, N.C. He was predeceased by three brothers, Gary, Tony and Tim Nicholas.

Al was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a 1963 graduate of Lincoln High School before attending Fenn College (now Cleveland State University). He joined the Heavy Weapons Infantry of the Army National Guard of Ohio in 1963 and served for 7.5 years while also pursuing a career. He joined Euclid, Inc., in the engineering department before moving into sales and marketing. For the last 20 years of his career with Euclid and Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE), he traveled the world as Events Manager of some of the world’s largest construction equipment exhibitions. In 1994, he was part of a large group of employees transferred to Asheville to establish a sales and marketing division of VCE. He was part of a development team that created and managed a 30-acre demonstration center bringing customers from all over the world for hands-on equipment demonstrations.

He retired in 1999 from VCE after more than a 30-year career. His retirement allowed him the time to return to his love of live musical theater that had begun as a young man in Cleveland playing roles such as Bernardo in “West Side Story”. After moving to Murrells Inlet, S.C., he revived his acting career participating in some 35 shows at the Theatre of the Republic in Conway where he received awards for his lead role as Fagin in the musical “Oliver,” Judge Turpin in “Sweeney Todd,” and Jerry Cruncher in “Tale of Two Cities the Musical.” He also returned to Cleveland several times to perform on the iconic Beck Center stage in Lakewood spending two Christmas seasons playing roles in “Annie.”

After moving back to Western North Carolina in 2017, Al was involved in development of a youth theater in Saluda where he and grandson Daniel participated in shows by The Young Acting Krew (YAK) together. He had roles in “Saluda the Musical,” and played Scrooge in the theater’s rendition of “A Christmas Carol.” For Al, it was a tremendous joy to share the stage with his grandson. In total, he performed in nearly 50 stage productions, primarily musicals, as he was blessed with a beautiful voice.

To his family and close friends Al was known as “Buddy”. A gifted actor and singer, he was above all a kind and gentle man, a loving husband, father, stepfather and grandparent and will be missed dearly. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to The Beck Center, The Theatre of the Republic or The Mountain Page Theatre.

Family and friends received at THE RIPEPI FUNERAL HOME, 5762 PEARL RD. (AT SNOW RD.) WEDNESDAY, July 29, 2026 from 6-8 p.m. with Words of Remembrance and a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Final Resting Place Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. A Celebration of Life will be held near his home in Saluda, NC, on August 22, 2026 from 2-4 p.m.